help with first suspension upgrade

[tuj]

Hi all!

I am getting ready to turn my stock 135i into a hybrid street/time-attack machine. Obviously this involves some compromises, so I was hoping to get some advice on parts.

1. Turner Motorsports sealed monoball front upper control arms.

2. Front lower control arms, M3.

3. Adjustable camber plates, KMAC street Stage 2.

4. Rear adjustable camber bushings, KMAC street.

5. Front sway, M3.

What I'm hoping to gain out of this setup is adequate negative camber to run as wide of tires as possible on 18's. I realize some fender rolling, etc may still be required.

How are the KMAC parts? Any good?

Overall thoughts?

[chris82]

Originally Posted by tuj

Hi all!

I am getting ready to turn my stock 135i into a hybrid street/time-attack machine. Obviously this involves some compromises, so I was hoping to get some advice on parts.

1. Turner Motorsports sealed monoball front upper control arms.

2. Front lower control arms, M3.

3. Adjustable camber plates, KMAC street Stage 2.

4. Rear adjustable camber bushings, KMAC street.

5. Front sway, M3.

What I'm hoping to gain out of this setup is adequate negative camber to run as wide of tires as possible on 18's. I realize some fender rolling, etc may still be required.

How are the KMAC parts? Any good?

Overall thoughts?

How much are the KMAC street stage 2 plates?

[tuj]

Originally Posted by chris82

How much are the KMAC street stage 2 plates?

$430 at Turner.

[asbrr]

This may be stating the obvious, but don't forget the rear SFB (whiteline 2 piece maybe, M3 bits, or go solid?)....maybe you've already done this...

[tuj]

rear SFB's make that much difference huh? OK, I will include those as well. Any preference, solid, derlin?

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by tuj

rear SFB's make that much difference huh? OK, I will include those as well. Any preference, solid, derlin?

Probably a bigger difference than anything else you listed.

I used the M3 version. Highly recommended.

What is with the rear camber bushings? Run out of travel in the stock adjusters?

[tuj]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Probably a bigger difference than anything else you listed. I used the M3 version. Highly recommended.

What is with the rear camber bushings? Run out of travel in the stock adjusters?

Wow! The stock rear SFB's have that much slop? Is that why I am having trouble getting the power down out of slow corners (or one of the reasons)?

As for the rear camber, I just figured I would need more than stock. I would like to ideally run 255 or 265 rears and figured I'd need to roll + camber bushing to get there, but I really have no idea. So help me out here please!

Right now the car under-steers in almost any condition, which would be fine by me as a general handling tendency but it is SLOW around the track. I blame the Dunlop RFT's which are only 215 up front (that's Miata size!). Guys are telling me I should be running about 5-sec faster per lap than I currently am for a stock 135i.

I want to get the car setup for R888's for next season as dedicated track tires, and still run the stock Dunlop RFT's on the street.

(btw, the nut behind the wheel has years doing NASA HDPE's and SCCA Evo schools and autox, but is new to the 135i platform)

[MightyMouseTech]

Yes, the rear RSFB's are that bad. If you lift the car up, you can actually move the rear subframe around almost an inch with just a prybar.

To get rid of understeer, you need wider front tires and more front camber. Personally, I went with the TRW version of the M3 front arms, Dinan plates and now running 245's in the front. Will be adding the M3 front bar in the spring.

As for the rear, I run 265's and no problem with rubbing or fender rolling required. Just set my rear camber to -2.2 with stock adjusters. Keep the parts as stock as possible.

[tuj]

MightyMouse: what say you about:
-front sway?
-front upper and lower control arms?
-camber plates?

I know enough that the M3 control arms will give me some more neg. front camber, and obviously the camber plates will. Do you think I need both to fit 245 up front?

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by tuj

MightyMouse: what say you about:
-front sway?
-front upper and lower control arms?
-camber plates?

I know enough that the M3 control arms will give me some more neg. front camber, and obviously the camber plates will. Do you think I need both to fit 245 up front?

The M3 arms add negative camber by pushing the bottom of the wheel further out, this will actually make clearance for bigger tires worse (not by much though). You need to get the top of the strut further in for more fender clearance (some kind of camber plate) I went with Dinan because there is less chance of noise, and they provided enough camber for my tire/driving.

[dbronnik]

You can fit 275 in the rear without any fender work if you have the right offsets. I'm running 18x9.5" Apex EC-7 ET58 wheels in the rear with 275/35R18 RE-71R's. 255 or 265 should be no problem.

Also 245/35R18 should fit fine with just camber plates (and the right wheels).

[tuj]

Thanks dbronnik, that will definitely save me. What wheels are you running up front?

[chris82]

Originally Posted by tuj

$430 at Turner.

There is not much out there about the KMAC plates. For that reason I would go with a brand more well known in this community like Vorschlag, Ground Control, TC Kline. If you want silence, go with Dinan. Camber plates, correct installation or not, can be noisy; bearings wear out, etc. etc. you just never know.

[tuj]

Cool, I will go Dinan then for camber plates.

[dbronnik]

Originally Posted by tuj

Thanks dbronnik, that will definitely save me. What wheels are you running up front?

I have a 1M front now so I run 275 square setup. I used to run OZ Allegeritta's for a 245/255 front/rear setup (ET40).